Castleark Management LLC Invests $10.49 Million in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 87,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,490,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 297,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,831,000 after purchasing an additional 38,345 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter worth $302,000. Finally, Kinloch Capital LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 25,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,077,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PM shares. UBS Group raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up previously from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 126,822 shares of company stock valued at $18,906,185 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM opened at $174.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $270.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.60, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.50. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.93 and a twelve month high of $176.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.92.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.10 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 111.34%.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.